Methods and apparatuses for pay-per-call advertising in mobile/wireless applications

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track information about the telephone calls resulting from advertisements on mobile/wireless media channels. In one embodiment, a method includes: assigning a telephone number to an advertiser, one of the telephone number and a reference to the telephone number to be included in an advertisement provided to an end user via a wireless media; and, monitoring telephone connections to the telephone number to bill the advertiser for the advertisement in response to each telephone connection to the telephone number. In one embodiment, a method includes: a first party providing an advertisement to a mobile device on behalf of an advertiser, the advertisement to include at least a reference to a telephonic connection with the advertiser; and, the first party collecting a fee from the advertiser in response to a telephonic connection being established between the advertiser and customer.

The present patent application is a continuation in part application ofcopending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,073, filed Dec. 15,2004 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/021,939, filed Dec. 23,2004, which is a continuation in part application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/679,982, filed Oct. 6, 2003. The present patentapplication claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/568,156, filed on May 4, 2004, Provisional U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/560,926, filed on Apr. 9, 2004, Provisional U.S.Patent Application Ser. No. 60/552,124, filed on Mar. 10, 2004, andProvisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60/653,708, filed on Feb. 16,2005 and entitled “Methods and Apparatuses for Pay-Per-Call Advertisingin Mobile/Wireless Applications”. All the above-mentioned parentapplications are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNOLOGY FIELD

At least some embodiments of the present invention relate to telephonicconnections and advertising in general and performance-based advertisingin mobile/wireless applications in particular.

BACKGROUND

Telephone systems allow users to conduct real time two-way voicecommunication. Traditional land-line based telephone systems connect onetelephone set to another through one or more switching centers, operatedby one or more telephone companies, over a land-line based telephonenetwork. Traditionally, a telephone connection is based on a circuitswitched network.

Current telephone systems may also use a package switched network for atelephone connection. A package switched network is typical in acomputer data environment. Recent developments in the field of Voiceover IP (VoIP) allow the delivery of voice information using theInternet Protocol (IP), in which voice information is packaged in adigital form in discrete packets rather than in the traditionalcircuit-committed protocols of the public switched telephone network(PSTN).

Cellular networks allow a cellular phone to connect to a nearby cellularbase station through an air interface for wireless access to a telephonenetwork. Recent developments in wireless telephone systems allow notonly voice communications but also data communications. For example,cellular phones can now receive and send short messages through a ShortMessage Service (SMS). Web pages can now be retrieved through wirelesscellular links and displayed on cellular phones. Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP) has been developed to overcome the constraints ofrelatively slow and intermittent nature of wireless links to accessinformation similar or identical to World Wide Web.

Telephone companies provide a number of convenient features, such ascall forwarding. Call forwarding of a telephone system allows a user ofa phone at a given phone number to dial a specific sequence on the phoneto cause the telephone system to forward incoming calls addressed to thephone number to another specified phone number indicated by the dialedsequence.

Telephone systems are frequently used in conducting business. Telephonenumbers are typically provided in advertisements, web sites,directories, etc., as a type of contact information to reach businesses,experts, persons, etc.

The Internet is becoming an advertisement media to reach globallypopulated web users. Advertisements can be included in a web page thatis frequently visited by web users. Typically, the advertisementsincluded in the web pages contain only a limited amount of information(e.g., a small paragraph, an icon, etc.). The advertisements containlinks to the web sites that provide further detailed information. Incertain arrangements, the advertisers pay the advertisements based onthe number of visits directed to their web sites by the links of theadvertisements.

Performance based advertising generally refers to a type of advertisingin which an advertiser pays only for a measurable event that is a directresult of an advertisement being viewed by a consumer. For example, paidinclusion advertising is a form of performance-based search advertising.With paid inclusion advertising, an advertisement is included within asearch result page of a key word search. Each selection (“click”) of theadvertisement from the results page is the measurable event for whichthe advertiser pays. In other words, payment by the advertiser is on aper click basis.

Another form of performance-based advertising includes paid placementadvertising. Paid placement advertising is similar to paid inclusionadvertising in that payment is on a per click basis. However, with paidplacement advertising an advertiser ranks a particular advertisement sothat it appears or is placed at a particular spot, e.g., at the top of asearch engine result page, thereby to increase the odds of theadvertisement being selected.

Both forms of performance-based advertising, i.e., paid placement andpaid inclusion, suffer from the limitation that an advertiser orparticipant within a paid placement or paid inclusion advertisingprogram is required to have a web presence, in the form of a web page.However, there are advertisers that either (a) do not have web pages, or(b) have web pages that are not effective at capturing the value of aweb visitor, and are therefore unable, or unwilling, to participate inthe traditional performance-based advertising, as described above.

SUMMARY

Methods and apparatuses to connect telephone calls and track informationabout the telephone calls resulting from advertisements onmobile/wireless media channels are described here. In one embodiment, amethod includes: assigning a telephone number to an advertiser, one ofthe telephone number and a reference to the telephone number to beincluded in an advertisement provided to an end user via a wirelessmedia; and, monitoring telephone connections to the telephone number tobill the advertiser for the advertisement in response to each telephoneconnection to the telephone number. In one embodiment, a methodincludes: a first party providing an advertisement to a mobile device onbehalf of an advertiser, the advertisement to include at least areference to a telephonic connection with the advertiser; and, the firstparty collecting a fee from the advertiser in response to a telephonicconnection being established between the advertiser and customer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows how clients and advertisers interact with each other usinga paid placement, or a paid inclusion advertising model, in accordancewith the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows an interaction between clients and advertisers, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of operations performed in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a high level functional description of a system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates the Account Creation and Management module of thesystem, in greater detail;

FIG. 6 illustrates the Advertisement Publication Module of the system,in greater detail;

FIG. 7 illustrates the Call Handling Module of the system, in greaterdetail;

FIG. 8A shows an example of a user interface that may be presented to auser during advertisement creation, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8B shows a campaign management interface that is presented to auser, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a search engine result page, which includesan advertisement generated, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 shows an example of an email alert that is sent to anadvertiser, when a call is generated, in accordance with one embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 11 shows a high level hardware block diagram of a system that maybe used to implement the system, in accordance with one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIGS. 12-18 describe processes in accordance with embodiments of theinvention to track/credit demand partners;

FIG. 19 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone connectionsfrom a mobile device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 21-22 show flow diagrams of making and tracking phone connectionsaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the description. It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without thesespecific details. In other instances, structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

FIG. 1 of the drawings illustrates how clients and advertisers interactwith each other in accordance with the paid placement, and paidinclusion advertising models of the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, anumber of clients indicated by reference numeral 10 are coupled to awide area network (WAN) 14, such as the Internet via a communicationspath 12. Advertisers 16 are coupled to the WAN 14 via a communicationspath 18. The communications paths 12 and 18 may support the TCP/IPprotocols, in one embodiment. Each advertiser 16 has a web page 20 whichin accordance with the paid placement, and paid inclusion advertisingmodels described above, may be included in a results page of a key wordsearch initiated by a user of a client 10, which search is performed byan online search engine 19. Based on the paid placement, or the paidinclusion models, the web page 20 of an advertiser 16 is included withina results page compiled by the search engine 19 and sent via thecommunications path 12 to the client 10 that initiated the search, sothat the web page 20 may be selected or viewed by a user of the client10 that requested the search. As noted above, if an advertiser 16 doesnot have a web page 20, or does not have a web page 20 that is effectiveat capturing the value of a web visitor, then currently, such anadvertiser may not participate, or effectively participate, inperformance-based marketing such as paid placement, and paid inclusionprograms.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a method for allowingadvertisers to participate in a pay per call advertising program,without requiring that the advertisers have a web presence, inaccordance with one embodiment, is illustrated. As will be seen, theclients 10 are coupled to the WAN 14 via the communications path 12, asbefore. However, the communications path 18 between the advertisers 16and the WAN 14 is purely optional. In other words, the techniques of thepresent invention, allow an advertiser 16 to participate in aperformance-based advertising program without the requirement that theadvertiser 16 be coupled to the WAN 14 via the communications path 18.In fact, in accordance with the techniques disclosed herein, it is notnecessary that the advertisers 16 have web pages 20. Instead, inaccordance with the techniques disclosed herein, an alternative non-webbased communications path 22 is provided between the clients 10 and theadvertisers 16. According to embodiments of the present invention, thenon-web based communications path 22 may be provided by a conventionaltelephone network. Alternatively, the non-web based communications path22 may utilize Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to couplea client through switches of the network 14, and switches of a publictelephone network, in a manner that does not require the advertisers 16to have a connection to the network 14. In addition, the advertisercould be notified via other media channels, such as email, chat, instantmessage, etc.

FIG. 3 of the drawings illustrates a technique to establish the non-webbased communications path 22 of FIG. 2, in accordance with oneembodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, at block 26, a unique telephone numberis assigned to an advertiser 16. Thereafter, at block 28, anadvertisement associated with the advertiser 16 is provisioned orpublished on a publication or media channel on behalf of the advertiser.The advertisement includes either the unique telephone number, or areference to the unique telephone number. At block 30, telephone callsto the unique telephone number are monitored, as will be described. Atblock 32, the advertiser is charged based on the phone call activitythrough the assigned telephone number, as will be described.

Further, the techniques disclosed herein are not limited to publishingor providing advertisements for the advertisers 16 through web pages.Thus, in alternative embodiments, the unique telephone number assignedto an advertiser may be published or provided using a directory withoutthe creation of a web page for the advertiser. The directory may be anexisting directory or a new directory. The placement or ranking of thetelephone number within the directory may be controlled through rankingtechniques described below.

FIG. 4 of the drawings shows a functional description of a system toimplement the method of FIG. 3 is shown. Referring to FIG. 4, the systemincludes account creation and management module 34, advertisementpublication module 36, call handling module 38, and billing module 40.In alternative embodiments, additional, less, or different modules maybe included in the system without departing from the invention.

The components of the account creation and management module 34, inaccordance with one embodiment, are shown in more detail in FIG. 5 ofthe drawings. Referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the accountcreation and management module 34 includes a user interface module 44,an advertisement creation module 46, and a payment specification module48. The user interface module 44 includes logic to present informationto a user, and to receive information from the user. For example, in oneembodiment, the user interface module 44 causes a web page such as theweb page 112 of FIG. 8 to be displayed on a browser of a client.

The advertisement creation module 46 includes text creation logic 50.The purpose of text creation logic 50 is to allow an advertiser 16, oran agent working on behalf of an advertiser 16, to input text for anadvertisement which is ultimately created by the advertisement creationmodule 46. In order to enhance understanding of the present invention,for the remainder of this description, a local business enterprisecalled “Burt's Plumbing” will be used as an example of an advertiserthat may benefit from the techniques disclosed herein. Burt's Plumbingmay or not have direct connectivity to the network 14. If Burt'sPlumbing does not have direct connectivity to the network 14, then arepresentative of Burt's Plumbing (hereinafter “Burt”) will have to gainaccess to a computer that does have connectivity to the network 14 inorder to view the web page 112 of FIG. 8A. For example, Burt could use acomputer of a friend, a computer at a local library, etc. In anotherembodiment, a search operator, an Internet yellow page provider or othertype of publisher could perform or administer this activity on behalf ofBurt. The text creation logic 50 allows Burt to input for e.g. the text“Burt's Plumbing in San Francisco. Check out our special deals,” whichwill be included in the advertisement when it is rendered. The module 46also includes key word association logic 57 that allows Burt to inputcertain key words which are then associated with Burt's advertisement.The idea here is that when one of the clients 10 initiates a searchthrough the search engine 19 using a key word that matches one of thekey words entered by Burt, then Burt's advertisement will be displayedwithin a result of the search. Since Burt's Plumbing is not a nationaloperation or enterprise it is necessary to display Burt's advertisementto clients within a certain geographic area. Thus, the module 46includes location determination logic 54 that builds a geographiclocation association to Burt's advertisement. In one embodiment, thelocation determination logic 54 allows Burt to select a particulargeographic location of interest, say for example San Francisco, so thatBurt's advertisement will only be displayed to clients within the SanFrancisco area.

The module 46 also includes telephone number auto generation logic 56that automatically generates a unique telephone number, maps the uniquetelephone number to Burt's actual telephone number such that when theunique number is called, Bert's phone rings, and associates the uniquephone number with Burt's advertisement. In one embodiment, the telephonenumber that is automatically generated, may be a toll free number. Inone embodiment, the telephone number may be a local number with the samearea code as Burt's actual telephone number. In one embodiment, thetelephone number may be an easily recognizable 800 number, modified by aunique extension mapped to Burt's business telephone number. Forexample, in one embodiment, a number could be the number“1-800-YEL-PAGES-1234.” The 1234 portion of the 800 number is the uniqueextension that is mapped to Burt's telephone number so that when asearcher calls the number 1-800-YEL-PAGES-1234, the call will beautomatically routed to Burt's telephone as will be described in moredetail below.

In one embodiment, the advertisement creation module 46, automaticallyinserts the unique telephone number assigned to Burt directly intoBurt's advertisement. Alternatively, click to call logic 58 may beinvoked in order to generate a button, or a clickable telephone number,which is automatically inserted into Burt's advertisement, so that whenthe button or telephone number is selected or clicked by a useroperating a client 10, a telephone call is automatically initiated toBurt's telephone number.

The module 46 also includes on/off logic 60 that allows Burt toselectively turn on or turn off an advertisement. Alternatively, theturn on/off logic 60 allows Burt to assign an active or an inactivestatus to a particular advertisement. When an advertisement is turnedoff or flagged as inactive, it is considered withdrawn, at leasttemporarily, from an advertisement campaign, and is therefore not madepublished e.g. through the search engine 19. Alternatively, onlyadvertisements that are turned on, or have a status of “active” arepublished in accordance with the techniques disclosed herein.

The module 46 includes smart connect logic 62 that allows automaticrouting of calls to various telephone numbers. For example, Burt mayinclude a primary telephone number, and one or more secondary telephonenumbers to be associated with his advertisement. Thus, in oneembodiment, the smart connect logic 62 first routes the call to Burt'sprimary telephone number, and if no connection is achieved, thencyclically through Burt's list of secondary telephone numbers, until aconnection is achieved.

The module 46 also includes arrange a call logic 64 that allows asearcher to input a time at which the searcher wishes to speak to Burt.The system then contacts Burt in order to arrange the call with thesearcher. Burt may be contacted in a variety of ways, for example bysending a facsimile to Burt, by sending an email to Burt, by telephoningBurt, etc. to alert him of the arranged telephone call. In alternativeembodiments, additional, less, or different logic may be included in theadvertisement creation module without departing from the invention.

The payment specification module 48, allows Burt to select a particularmodel and various parameters associated with billing. The module 48includes flat fee logic 66 that presents an option to Burt through theuser interface module 44, which if selected will cause Burt to be billedon a flat fee basis for each telephone call received within a particularcategory, or subcategory. The module 48 also includes bid for placementlogic 68, that, through the user interface module 44, presents an optionto Burt to choose to be billed on a bid-for-placement basis, asdescribed above. The logic 68 supports proxy bids, and maximum/minimumbids.

The module 48 also includes spending level logic 70 that allows Burt tospecify daily/weekly/monthly spending levels. The specified spendinglevel essentially defines a budget per time period such that if thebudget is exceeded within a particular time period, then Burt'sadvertisement will be automatically flagged as inactive or turned off,for the remainder of the time period. Burt is notified of this activityby the system and Burt is given the option of reactivating hisadvertisement by adding additional funds to his account.

In one embodiment, the billing module 40 includes logic to automaticallywaive charges for leads (calls) from searchers/customers who have calledBurt recently. For example, if a customer calls on one day, and thendials the same number for a follow-up call a day later, the systemautomatically waives the charge for the second call since this lead hasalready been paid for. Thus, the advertiser (Burt) does not have to beconcerned about a customer using the advertised telephone number morethan once and causing multiple charges. In one embodiment, the system ofthe present invention may be configured to waive the charges on leadsfrom customers who have already called a particular advertiser within aspecified number of days. In alternative embodiments, additional, less,or different logic may be included in the without departing from theinvention.

Referring now to FIG. 6 of the drawings, the components of theadvertisement publication module 36, are shown in greater detail. Aswill be seen, the module 36 includes an advertisement rendering engine74, and an advertisement syndication engine 76. The purpose of theadvertisement rendering engine 74 is to automatically render Burt'sadvertisement on a particular channel. In some embodiments, theadvertisement rendering engine 74 causes a campaign management interface113 (see FIG. 8B of the drawings) to be displayed to an advertiser. Theinterface 113 allows the advertiser to choose a channel, e.g., SBC,QwestDex, Ingenio, and a category in which the advertisement is to beprovisioned/published. The interface 113 allows the advertiser tospecify the maximum bid amount that the advertiser is willing to pay toprovision the advertisement using the selected channel and category.FIG. 9 of the drawings shows an example of a web page 112 within whichincludes an advertisement rendered/provisioned in accordance with thetechniques described herein. In one embodiment, this publication channelmay be a web-based publication channel which is operated by an operatorof the system of the present invention.

Alternatively, the syndication engine 76 may be used to syndicate Burt'sadvertisement to a number of third parties that host publicationchannels selected by Burt. Thus, in one embodiment, the syndicationengine 76 may cause Burt's advertisement to be syndicated to third partysearch engines, Internet yellow pages, online directories, and othermedia.

As will be seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings, the advertisement renderingengine 74 includes price per call logic 78, activity history logic 80,call status logic 82, connection success logic 84, manual indexing logic86, and random logic 88. Each of the logic components 78-88 controls aparameter that forms a basis of how Burt's advertisement is ultimatelyrendered. The price per call logic 78 causes Burt's advertisement to bepublished on a price per call basis. Thus, for example, if Burt iswilling only to pay a low amount for each call, then his advertisementwill be placed or ranked low down within a search result page orcategory of advertisers. Alternatively, if Burt is willing to pay a highprice per call, then his advertisement will be placed higher up in thesearch result page or category of advertisers. The table below shows howthe price per call logic 78 would rank or place advertisers within achannel based on a bid amount per call that an advertiser is willing topay: Placement Advertiser (Bid Amount per call) 1 800-349-2398 ($3.88) 2866-324-3242 ($3.22) 3 800-323-5321 ($2.01)The activity history logic 80 analyzes the number of calls Burt receivedin a give time period, for example, the last day/week/month, and willrank Burt's advertisement within a display page based on the activityhistory. The call status logic 82, examines the status (active orinactive) of Burt's advertisement, and selectively publishes Burt'sadvertisement based on the status. The connection success logic 84measures a connection success rate for calls to the telephone numberassigned to Burt's advertisement and ranks Burt's advertisement within adisplay page based on the connection success rate. For example, ifBurt's telephone number enjoys a low connection success rate then thelogic 84 will cause Burt's advertisement to be ranked lowly within apublication page. The manual indexing logic 86 allows an operator tomanually index or rank Burt's advertisement within a publication page.The random logic 88 allows Burt's advertisement to be randomly ranked orplaced within a result page. In one embodiment, the ranking of Burt'sadvertisement within a display page may be based on any combination ofthe parameters controlled by the logic components 78-88, which may bedictated by a third party who employs the system. In alternativeembodiments, additional, less, or different logic may be included in theadvertisement rendering engine 74 without departing from the invention.

Referring now to FIG. 7 of the drawings, the components within the callhandling module 38 include a call routing engine 92, and a callmonitoring engine 94. As will be seen, the call routing engine 92includes redirect logic 96 to cause redirection of a telephone call tothe number assigned to Burt's advertisement. The redirection is to atelephone number specified by Burt during creation of the advertisementusing the advertisement creation module 46. The call routing engine 92also includes VoIP logic 98 to route a telephone call to or from aclient to a telephone number specified by Burt in the advertisementusing VoIP technology.

The call routing engine 92 may also include prompt logic 99 that causesa prompt to be played to a caller before routing of a telephone call toBurt's telephone number. In one embodiment, the prompt logic 99 plays aninformation prompt to the caller to inform the caller of Burt's actualtelephone number. Thus, the caller may, in future, call Burt directlyusing Burt's actual telephone number instead of the telephone numberassigned to Burt by the system. In such cases, Burt will not be billedby the system for telephone calls to his actual telephone number. In oneembodiment, the prompt logic 99 may also cause an information prompt tobe played to Burt to inform Burt of the source of the telephone call. Insome cases, the prompt logic 99 may cause an email or facsimile alert tobe automatically generated and sent to an advertiser, in order to informthe advertiser of the telephone number of the caller. An example of suchan email is shown in FIG. 10 of the drawings and is marked as referencenumeral 116. In alternative embodiments, additional, less, or differentlogic may be included in the call routing engine 92 without departingfrom the invention.

The call monitoring engine 94 includes call number logic 100 to trackthe number of calls generated in response to Burt's advertisement. Thecall monitoring engine 94 also includes Automatic Number Identification(ANI) logic 102 to identify the number of unique numbers of callers thatcall Burt, automatically. The call monitoring engine also includes calllength logic 104 that monitors the length of each call to Burt.Connection status logic 108 monitors whether a call is successful,whether an engaged or busy tone is encountered, or whether Burt simplydid not answer his telephone. Based on information supplied by logiccomponents 100-106, a report is compiled and may be viewed by Burt. Inone embodiment, the report includes a number of calls, the number ofcalls from unique telephone numbers, the telephone numbers of thecallers, the length of each call, and the number of calls that weresuccessful, for which an engaged tone was returned, or that wentunanswered. The report may be used by Burt in order to monitor theeffectiveness of an advertisement campaign, and to optimize thecampaign. In alternative embodiments, additional, less, or differentlogic may be included in the call monitoring engine 94 without departingfrom the invention.

In one embodiment, the advertising publication module may publish theadvertisement on a telephone-based advertising service. For example, theadvertisement can be delivered to a consumer through audio as part of avoice portal or telephone-based directory such as a 411 telephonedirectory.

Referring to FIG. 11 of the drawings, reference numeral 150 generallyindicates hardware that may be used to implement the above-describedsystem. The hardware 150 typically includes at least one processor 152coupled to a memory 154. The processor 152 may represent one or moreprocessors (e.g., microprocessors), and the memory 154 may representrandom access memory (RAM) devices comprising a main storage of thehardware 150, as well as any supplemental levels of memory e.g., cachememories, non-volatile or back-up memories (e.g. programmable or flashmemories), read-only memories, etc. In addition, the memory 154 may beconsidered to include memory storage physically located elsewhere in thehardware 150, e.g. any cache memory in the processor 152, as well as anystorage capacity used as a virtual memory, e.g., as stored on a massstorage device 160.

The hardware 150 also typically receives a number of inputs and outputsfor communicating information externally. For interface with a user oroperator, the hardware 150 may include one or more user input devices156 (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, etc.) and a display 158 (e.g., a CathodeRay Tube (CRT) monitor, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel).

For additional storage, the hardware 150 may also include one or moremass storage devices 160, e.g., a floppy or other removable disk drive,a hard disk drive, a Direct Access Storage Device (DASD), an opticaldrive (e.g. a Compact Disk (CD) drive, a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)drive, etc.) and/or a tape drive, among others. Furthermore, thehardware 150 may include an interface with one or more networks 162(e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wirelessnetwork, and/or the Internet among others) to permit the communicationof information with other computers coupled to the networks. It shouldbe appreciated that the hardware 150 typically includes suitable analogand/or digital interfaces between the processor 152 and each of thecomponents 154, 156, 158 and 162 as is well known in the art.

The hardware 150 operates under the control of an operating system 164,and executes various computer software applications 166, components,programs, objects, modules, etc. (e.g. a program or module whichperforms operations described above. Moreover, various applications,components, programs, objects, etc. may also execute on one or moreprocessors in another computer coupled to the hardware 150 via a network152, e.g. in a distributed computing environment, whereby the processingrequired to implement the functions of a computer program may beallocated to multiple computers over a network.

As discussed above, the syndicate engine 76 is used to syndicate Burt'sadvertisement to a number of third parties. Additional examples of thirdparties include companies such as Yahoo!®, MSN®, AOL®, and other similardemand partners. Often times, these demand partners (also referred toherein as syndication partners) receive a percentage of the advertisingrevenue generated via the pay-per-call method and system described,herein. Thus, as in the example of the table above, the advertiser ofplacement 1 pays $3.88 per call received to phone number 800-349-2398.Now suppose the call to the advertiser of placement 1, resulted from anadvertisement presented on a demand partner's website. The demandpartner would be entitled to a percentage of that $3.88. The presentmethod and system offers multiple embodiments for tracking, monitoring,and determining demand partner compensation.

In one embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 12, in process1202 an advertiser (also referred to herein as a merchant or listing) isgiven a separate telephone number for each separate demand partner thatis posting the merchant's advertisement using. As described herein, inmultiple embodiments, telephonic references, including telephone numbersand telephone extensions corresponding to a base telephone number, areassigned using the telephone number auto generation logic 56.

In one embodiment, the alias phone number is mapped to the advertiser'sactual phone number, and calls made to the alias are monitored in orderto track the respective demand partners. Therefore, in process 1204billing module 40 tracks and/or credits demand partners a percentage ofthe revenue charged to the advertiser (or collected from the advertiser)for calls placed to the advertiser's alias telephone numbercorresponding to the respective demand partner.

In another embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 13, inprocess 1302 an advertiser receives a single/base (the same) telephonenumber for a set of the demand partners. In process 1304, a separateextension is assigned to the advertiser for each of the separate demandpartners. More specifically, the separate demand partners list the sametelephone number for the advertiser, but also include an extensionunique to the respective demand partner. For example, a listing couldhave the number “(800)new-cars” for the set of demand partners, but eachdemand partner posting the common telephone number for the advertiserwould also provide a separate extension corresponding to the respectivedemand partner (e.g., ext. 102 corresponding to the XYZ syndicationpartner, ext. 104 corresponding to the ABC syndication partner, etc.) Inprocess 1306, billing module 40 tracks and/or credits a demand partner apercentage of the revenue charged to the advertiser (or collected fromthe advertiser), for calls placed to the advertiser via the telephoneextension corresponding to the respective demand partner.

In an alternative embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 14,in process 1402 a demand partner uses a base telephone (i.e., a single)number for a set of advertisers. In process 1404, the demand partnerprovides a separate extension to each of the advertisers using the samebase number. For example, the demand partner could use the telephonenumber (800) Call XYZ for a set of advertisers, and provide theextension 102 for Joe's plumbing, and extension 104 for Carl's plumbing,etc. In process 1406, billing module 40 tracks and/or credits a demandpartner a percentage of the revenue charged to the advertiser (orcollected from the advertiser), for calls placed to the advertiser viathe base telephone number corresponding to the respective demand partnerand the unique telephone extension assigned to the advertiser at therespective demand partner.

According to another embodiment, a click-to-reveal method is proposed,as described in co-pending U.S. Patent Application No. 60/552,124,entitled “A Method and Apparatus to Provide Pay-Per-Call PerformanceBased Advertising and Billing” filed on Mar. 10, 2004, hereinincorporated by reference. As described in the flow diagram of FIG. 15,in process 1502 a user is presented with an advertisement via a demandpartner's website. The advertisement does not show the advertiser'scomplete phone number, but instead contains a hyperlink to reveal theadvertiser's phone number, or the remaining portion of the telephonenumber. In process 1504, the Advertisement rendering engine 74 monitorsthe number of click-throughs to reveal the advertiser's number. In oneembodiment, it is assumed that each click-through from a demand partnerresults in a call to the respective advertiser. As a result, in process1506 billing module 40 tracks and/or calculates an amount to credit ademand partner based at least in part on a number of click-throughs toreveal an advertiser's telephone number.

In yet another alternative embodiment, a demand partner is provided witha click to call format. In one embodiment, as described in the flowdiagram of FIG. 16, in process 1602 in addition to listing a telephonenumber for an advertiser (or in place of listing a telephone number forthe advertiser) a link is provided by the demand partner to initiateestablishing a telephone connection between the viewer/customer and theadvertiser in response to the viewer/customer activating/selecting thehyperlink provided. In one embodiment, in process 1604, in response toactivating/selecting the hyperlink provided, the viewer/customer isprompted for their telephone number to establish the telephoneconnection with the advertiser. After the customer enters theirtelephone number, a telephone connection is established between thecustomer and the advertiser.

In yet another embodiment, if the viewer/customer has a VoIPcommunications device, VoIP logic 98 may connect the advertiser to theviewer/customer without the need for the customer/viewer to providetheir telephone number. The VoIP communications device includestelephony devices attached to the user's computer, as well as mobilecommunication devices, such as PDA's and cellular phones.

In the embodiment employing a click to call (for PSTN and VoIPconnections), in process 1604, a demand partner providing the click tocall option would be tracked/credited (i.e., a percentage of the chargeto the advertiser) each time a viewer/customer selects/activates a clickto call icon for the respective advertiser.

In another embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 17, inprocess 1702 an advertiser is given one telephone number for a set ofdemand partners. In process 1704, credits to the demand partners forcalls placed to the advertiser's listed telephone number are proratedbased on a number of page views for the advertiser's telephone numberlisting via the respective demand partners. For example, if 70% of theadvertiser's page views are accessed via demand partner ABC, and 30% ofthe advertiser's page views are accessed via demand partner XYZ, the ABCdemand partner would receive 70% and the demand partner XYZ wouldreceive 30% of the credits payable to the demand partners for callsplaced to the advertiser's listed telephone number.

In another embodiment, described in the flow diagram of FIG. 18, inprocess 1802 at least a first set of advertisers are given uniquetelephonic reference for each demand partner. One or more advertisersare each given one telephonic reference for a set demand partners.

In process 1804, a statistical sampling of calls to advertisers with theunique telephonic reference is generated. In one embodiment, thestatistical sampling represents a sampling of a percentage of calls toan advertiser (or set of advertisers) that originate from anadvertisement listed by a first demand partner compared to calls thatoriginate from the same (or similar) advertisement listed by otherdemand partners. In one embodiment, the samplings may be separated basedon a category of advertisers (e.g., restaurants, automobiles, etc.).

In process 1806, the samplings are used as a basis fortracking/crediting the demand partners with a percentage of the chargesto at least a set of the advertisers. Consider the example advertisers 1and 2 are given each give unique telephone, and 70% of the calls toadvertisers 1 and 2 are from telephonic references listed by partnerABC. Given the example, an assumption is made that 70% of the calls tothe advertisers using a common number among the demand partners, areoriginated from advertisements listed by partner ABC.

Therefore, in one embodiment, based on the statistical sampling, partnerABC would be credited for 70% of the calls placed to the advertisersusing a common number among the demand partners. In one embodiment,tracking/crediting the demand partners based on the statistical samplingcould also be applied to the advertisers using unique numbers among thedemand partners.

As described above, telephone-call tracking is used to determine thenumber of phone calls a particular party, or directory, has received. Itcan be useful for a variety of purposes. It is particularly useful inmeasuring the success of advertising. For instance, a telephonedirectory may offer advertising placements to its advertisers, such asplumbers. By tracking the number of phone calls a particularadvertisement has received, the directory can demonstrate the value ofits advertising to the advertiser.

Telephone-call tracking can be used to measure the effectiveness of avariety of advertising vehicles in addition to the physical yellow-pagesphone book. Newspaper classifieds can utilize call tracking, as cantelevision commercials that display phone numbers for consumers to call.By counting the number of telephone calls such advertisements receive,the campaign's effectiveness can be measured. This is of benefit both tothe advertiser and to the directory.

Telephone-call tracking can be also used as such in directories that areonline, such as an online yellow pages. Similarly, it can be used totrack the success of online search advertising, such as keywordadvertising.

Telephone-call tracking is particularly useful in pay-for-performanceadvertising systems, as described in several embodiments above. Inpay-for-performance systems, advertisers pay when an advertisementperforms. For instance, an advertiser can pay $1 each time a potentialcustomer clicks on an online-search advertisement. Similarly, inpay-per-call advertising systems, such as that covered in ApplicationNumber X (application Ser. No. 10/872,117), an advertiser's payments arelinked to the number of calls that advertiser receives. In such a payper call advertising system, call tracking is vital, since counting thenumber of calls received determines the amount that the advertiser mustpay. In one embodiment, not only are the number of calls receivedcounted but also the time of the call, since in one embodiment anadvertiser may bid to pay a higher price per call in order to receive amore prominent placement for their advertisement.

Not only is it important to track the number of calls and precise timeof calls, but the demand source at which the caller viewed theadvertisement may also be tracked. Online directories can have manydifferent external web sites through which they syndicate the sameadvertisers, and it is important to know from which web site the phonecall originated so that, in some cases, the directory can compensate theexternal web site for having brought customer. Application Number Y(Application No. 60/560,926) outlines this case.

Tracking phone calls may include publishing a unique phone number thatis different from the advertiser's standard phone number. When a callerviews the advertisement, the unique phone number appears, and the callerdials it. The call coming in on the unique phone number is thenrerouted, using the call tracker's telephony equipment, to theadvertiser's standard phone number. In addition to rerouting the call,the call tracker also records that a call was made and the precise timeof the call. In a pay-per-call advertising system, this information canbe used to bill the advertiser for the call.

In cases where directories would also like to identify the demand sourceof the call, a single advertiser will have to be given multiple uniquephone numbers, one for each demand source where that advertiser appears.For instance, the advertisement of a single plumber might be displayedin two different online directories and three different online searchengines. In order to track which of these demand sources produced a callfrom a customer, the single plumber would have to be assigned fivedifferent unique telephone numbers. By monitoring which unique phonenumber was dialed, it can be determined which demand source deserves thecredit for producing the call.

MOBILE/WIRELESS EXAMPLES

FIG. 19 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone connectionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 19, a database (1921) may contain the phone numbers of targetphone A (1931), target phone B (1933), . . . , target phone X (1939),etc. Typically, the target phones belong to the institutions,businesses, individuals, etc, which seek for publicity through variousmedia channels, such as media channel A (1901) (e.g., web server), mediachannel B (1902) (e.g., WAP server), media channel C (1903) (e.g., shortmessaging service center), media channel D (1904) (e.g., custom server),media channel E (1907) (e.g., cable television), media channel E (1908)(e.g., news press), media channel G (1909) (e.g., radio station), etc.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone numbers of thetarget phones are not directly publicized over the media channels.Instead, encoded target phone numbers (1923) are used. Using the encodedtarget phone numbers (1923), a user cannot reach target phones directly.The encoded target phone numbers (1923) allow the association ofadditional information with the target phone numbers, such as the mediachannels used, special promotions, etc.

The encoded target phone numbers are delivered with content information(e.g., web page, WAP page, short message, television programs, newsarticles, etc.) to user devices, such as user device A (1911) (e.g.,cellular phone), user device B (1912) (e.g., personal digital assistant(PDA)), user device C (1913) (e.g., computer), user device D (1916)(e.g., receiver), user device E (1918) (e.g., newspaper).

In one embodiment, the user devices are mobile devices, such as PDA,cellular phone, etc. The user devices obtain content information,including advertisements, through wireless communication connections,such as cellular communication links, wireless access points forwireless local area network, etc.

In one embodiment, a user device (e.g., a cellular phone, a computer, aPDA) can receive content information from multiple types of mediachannels (e.g., a web server, a WAP server, a SMSC, etc.).

In one embodiment, a user device is capable to dial a phone call (e.g.,automatically according to the encoded phone number embedded in thecontent information when a user selects the number). Alternatively, auser may manually dial a phone call using a separate phone, such as userphone S (1917) or user phone T (1919).

In one embodiment of the present invention, dialing at least a portionof an encoded target phone number connects the phone call to a phonedecoder and router (1925) first. According to the encoded target phonenumber dialed, the phone decoder and router (1925) determines thecorresponding target phone number using the database (1921) and connectsthe phone call to the corresponding target phone (e.g., one of targetphones 1931-1939) through the telephone network (1927).

Note the telephone network (1927) may be circuit switched, packageswitched, or partially circuit switched and partially package switched.For example, the telephone network may partially use the Internet tocarry the phone call (e.g., through VoIP). For example, the connectionbetween the user phone/device and the phone decoder and router (1925)may be carried using VoIP; and the connection between the phone decoderand router (1925) may be carried using a land-line based, circuitswitched telephone network.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the information associatedwith the encoded target phone number, such as the media channel used toprovide the encoded target phone number to the users, is alsodecoded/retrieved using the database (1921). Thus, the informationassociated with the encoded target phone number can be tracked/stored.

In one embodiment, the phone decoder and router (1925) also determinesthe phone number of the user through Automatic Number Identification(ANI). ANI is a phone system feature that provides the billing number ofthe person making the phone call.

The information about the caller, target phone number, the media channelused for delivering the contact information to the user can be used tobill the caller and/or the target phone number, and providecredit/compensation for the corresponding media channel.

For example, the advertisements for target phone numbers can be paid foron a pay per call basis. Monitoring and tracking the calls can be usedfor billing the advertisers. Alternatively, the users may be seeking thecontact information on a pay per call basis. Monitoring and tracking thecalls can be used for billing the users.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the additional informationassociated with the encoded target phone number is used to providecredit/compensation to the operators of the corresponding media channelsthat are responsible for leading the users to the phone calls to thetarget phones. The system can further track the time and duration of thephone calls and other information, such as conditional promotions,electronic coupons, etc.

The information about the media channels that are responsible forleading the users to the phone calls to the target phones can also beuseful for the advertisers. The advertisers may wish to know which mediachannel is more effective in reaching users. For example, using thestatistic information about the media channels which successfully bringin phone calls, the advertisers may fine tune advertisement strategies.Further, different media channels may charge differently for theadvertisements; and the advertisers may bid differently on differentmedia channels for their advertisements.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phonenumber has the same number of digits as a standard phone number (e.g., atypical telephone number assigned by a telephone company). Thus, dialingthe encoded target phone number is as easy as dialing the target phonenumber; and dialing the target phone number reaches the phone decoderand router (1925). In such an arrangement, a large number of encodedphone numbers are generally required to differentiate the differenttarget phones and different media channels.

In one embodiment of the present invention, an encoded target phonenumber has more digits than a standard phone number. A first portion ofthe encoded target phone number has the same number of digits as astandard phone number to reach the phone decoder and router (1925)through the telephone network (1927); and a second portion of theencoded target phone number is to be decoded by the phone decoder androuter (1925). For example, the Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) decodercan be installed in the phone decoder and router (1925) to detect thesecond portion of the encoded target phone number dialed at the userphone. The detected phone number can then be used to recover the targetphone number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a single telephone number isused to reach the phone decoder and router (1925) for different targetphone numbers; and the portion of the encoded target phone number thatis used to reach the phone decoder and router (1925) is not used indetermining the information associated with the encoded target phonenumber.

Alternatively, multiple telephone numbers can be used to reach the phonedecoder and router (1925); and the entire encoded target phone numbercan be used to determine the information associated with the encodedtarget phone number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers can have different numbers of digits. The advertisers may bearranged to bid for shorter encoded target phone numbers.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers are assigned only when needed for use in a media channel.

In one embodiment, a look-up table approach is used to encode theinformation. For example, the database (1921) keeps track of theinformation about the media channel and the target phone number (andother information, if any) for the encoded target phone number so thatthe encoded target phone number can be used as a key to retrieve thecorresponding information. Thus, it is not necessary to have apredetermined structure to encode the information about the mediachannels and the target phone number.

Alternatively, algorithms can be used to generate and encode targetphone number and associated information. For example, a predeterminedalgorithm may be used to encode different information in the targetphone number. For example, the target phone number may include a numberof field separated by “*” or “#”. Each of the field can be decodedseparately (e.g., from a separate look up table or a mapping algorithm)to determine the target phone number, identity of the media channel,etc.

For example, a set of parameters can be mapped from a string ofcharacters to a string of numerical digits as a part of the encodedtarget phone number; and the string of numbers can be mapped back intothe string of characters at the phone decoder and router (1925). Whensuch a mapping scheme is used, a look up table is not necessary. Forexample, an encoded target phone number may include a first portion thatis the phone number of the phone decoder and router (1925), a secondportion that is the target phone number appended with a number mappedfrom an identifier of the media channel. To prevent the user fromdialing the target phone number directly, an encryption/scramblingscheme can be used to encode the second portion, which is decoded at thephone decoder and router (1925).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the phone decoder and router(1925) determines the target phone number from the encoded target phonenumber dialed by the user and then dials the target phone number for theuser and joins the phone calls so that the user can talk to the targetphone.

In one embodiment of the present invention, users dial the encodedtarget phone numbers manually. A user can dial the encoded target phonenumber regardless the user device used and the media channel used.

Alternatively, in one embodiment, user devices can automatically dialthe encoded target phone numbers. For example, a cellular phone, acomputer or a PDA can dial a phone number using a Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF) generator. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the encoded target phone numbers are presented in the contentinformation in a format such that when the user selects the phone numberthe user device (e.g., a cellular phone or a computer) dials the encodedtarget phone number for the user. The user selection may be in the formof an keyboard/keypad input, a touch pad input, a track ball input, amouse input, a voice command, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device initiates the phone call through aVoIP system when the user selects the encoded target phone number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the user device dials thephone number for the user without the user manually pressing thesequence of the encoded target phone numbers. This greatly simplifiesthe process of make the phone call. Since a user device can dial a longsequence of number easily, a large number of digits can be used toencode the information without presenting any difficulties for theusers.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the encoded target phonenumbers are formatted so that the user device dials a first portion ofthe encoded target phone numbers to access the phone decoder and router(1925), pauses for a short period of time for the phone decoder androuter (1925) to prepare for receiving the second portion of the encodedtarget phone numbers, and then dials the second portion of the encodedtarget phone numbers. Thus, the user device provides a user-friendly wayof dialing the encoded target phone numbers; and, making the phone callcan be as easy as making a “click” to access a web page.

In FIG. 19, the user device initiates the phone call. Alternatively, aphone router may be used to initiate phone calls both to the user device(or a separate user phone) and the target phone and then join the phonecalls to connect the user to the target phone. For example, when theuser selects the encoded target phone number, the selection of thetarget phone number is transmitted to the phone router with the userphone number.

The user phone number can be automatically determined through ANI, orthrough a user preference setting, or through an entry submitted withthe selection of the encoded target phone number.

In one embodiment, the selection of the encoded target phone number istransmitted to the corresponding media channel, which forwards therequest for making the phone call to a server (e.g., a web server)connected to the phone router. Alternatively, the content informationcan be formatted so that the selection is sent directly to the serverthat is connected to the phone router.

When the router starts the phone calls, the encoded target phone numbercan also include alphabetic characters (and/or other characters). Theserver and/or the phone router can decode the encoded target phonenumber to recover/retrieve the target phone number and other associatedinformation, such as the identity of the media channel that iscreditable for providing the encoded target phone number to user.

FIG. 20 shows a diagram of a system to make and track phone connectionsfrom a mobile device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 20, a mobile device (2001) accesses content server A (2021),content server B (2023), content server X (2029), etc., through awireless link (2035) to a access point, such as access point A (2011),access point B (2013), and access point C (2015). In general, the accesspoints may be of different types. For example, the access point may be acellular base station, an access point for wireless local area network(e.g., a WiFi access point), an access point for wireless personal areanetwork (e.g., a Bluetooth access point), etc. The access point connectsthe mobile device to the content servers through a communication network(2019), which may include the Internet, an intranet, a local areanetwork, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), privatecommunication networks, etc.

In one embodiment, the content servers provide encoded target phonenumbers, which when dialed connect the mobile device to the phonerouter/connecter (2031) which used the database (2033) to decode theencoded information and/or store the information about the phone call inthe database (2033). The router/connecter (2031) further connects themobile device to the target phones. Alternatively, the router/connecter(2031) may dial phone calls to the mobile device and the correspondingtarget phone and then join the phone calls to connect the mobile deviceand the target phone.

In one embodiment of the present invention, location-dependent contentinformation is delivered from a content server to the mobile device. Theuser may enter the location manually (e.g., through text input or voiceinput which is processed through a speech recognition system). Thecontent information may be presented on a display screen or using anaudio channel through a text to speech system.

Alternatively, the location of the mobile device may be determinedautomatically, which is then used to determine the location-dependentcontent information. For example, the location of the mobile device maybe determined through a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver that isconnected to, or built within, the mobile device.

A location of a cellular phone can also be determined using a methodknown as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in which the reception timesof a cellular signal from a mobile station are measured at several basestations to determine the position of the cellular phone. Alternative, amethod known as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT), or EnhancedObserved Time Difference (EOTD), can be used, which measures thereception times of cellular signals from several base stations to thecellular phone. Alternatively, the cellular site in which the mobiledevice can communicate to a based station can be used to determine arough position of the cellular phone. In general, any method used by acellular phone provider to get location information (e.g., for emergencyservice) can be used.

An access point for a wireless local area network or a wireless personalarea network typically has a small coverage area. Based on the locationof the access point, location information (e.g., the city, or moreprecise location information) can be obtained.

Further, ANI can also be used to determine the location information.Although the location information determined from ANI may not representa correct position of a mobile device, content information about thelocation determined from ANI may still be of interest to the user.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when the user performs asearch for information which may be location dependent, the locationautomatically determined for the mobile device is used with the searchrequest. For example, when the user search for “hotels” withoutspecifying a location using an SMS-based search, the city in which themobile device is located is determined; and a pay-per-call list ofhotels in the city is sent via SMS to the mobile device.

In one example, the user may search for “dentists” in a custom clientapplication; and a custom server application provides a pay-per-calllist of “dentists” close to the current position of the mobile device.

In one example, the user may search in a web page or a WAP page for aparticular subject. The return results include one or more pay-per-calladvertisements to be presented in a browser running in the mobiledevice.

In one embodiment of the present invention, certain content informationis automatically channeled into the mobile device when the mobile deviceenters into a wireless access zone. For example, when the mobile deviceenters into a commercial district, pay-per-call lists of various nearbypoints of interest, such as hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.,can be automatically presented on the mobile device, according to userpreferences.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a user may search forparticular types of experts, businesses, institutions, persons, etc.When the user is interested in calling one selected entity (e.g., anexpert, a doctor, a restaurant), the mobile device can automaticallydial the encoded phone number of the entity without the user manuallydial the number; and the phone router/connecter decodes the informationand connects the mobile device to the phone of the selected entity.Alternatively, the phone number of the mobile device may be determined(e.g., through ANI, or user input, or user preference setting); and thephone connector connects phone calls to both the mobile device and thephone of the selected entity to connect the user to the selected entity.In such a process, the identity of the mobile device may be keptanonymous from the selected entity; and the identity of the selectedentity may also be kept anonymous from the user of the mobile device.

FIGS. 21-22 show flow diagrams of making and tracking phone connectionsaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

In FIG. 21, operation 2101 provides an encoded target phone number to acontent provider, where the phone number is usable to identify thecontent provider among a plurality of content providers and to identifya target phone number among a plurality of target phone numbers.

Operation 2103 transmits content information from the content providerto a user of a mobile device (e.g., through a wireless connection) wherethe content information contains the encoded target phone number. Thecontent information may include, pay-per-call advertisements, lists ofexperts, lists of points of interests, etc.

After operation 2105 receives a phone call according to the encodedtarget phone number, operation 2107 determines the target phone numberand the content provider according to the encoded target phone number;and operation 2109 connect the phone call to the target phone number.

Operation 2111 records information identifying the target phone numberand the content provider for the phone call. The recorded informationcan be used to bill for advertisements and/or for making phoneconnections, provide credit/compensation for the content provider, andprovide information for fine-tuning advertisement operations.

In FIG. 22, operation 2201 starts to obtain a type of contentinformation at a mobile device (e.g., a cellular phone, a cellular phonewith a GPS receiver, a PDA, etc.)

If operation 2203 determines the content information depends on thelocation of the mobile device, operation 2205 determines locationinformation of the mobile device (e.g., through a GPS receiver,Automatic Number Identification, a cellular location server). Thelocation may be determined at the mobile station or determined at aserver station.

Operation 2207 transmits content information from a content provider toa user of the mobile device (e.g., through a wireless connection) wherethe content information contains a first phone number.

Operation 2209 dials the first phone number to make a phone call fromthe mobile device in response to a user request (e.g., voice or textinput). In one embodiment the mobile device dials the first phone numberwithout the user manually dialing the individual digits of the firstphone number.

After operation 2211 receives the phone call at a routing station,operation 2213 determines a second phone number and the content providerfrom the first phone number dialed to make the phone call. Operation2215 dials the second phone number from the routing station to connectthe phone call to the second phone number.

Operation 2217 stores information indicating the second phone number andthe content provider for the phone call. The second phone number can beused to bill for the connection; and the content provider can becredited/compensated for providing the first phone number to the mobiledevice.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of theinvention, may be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processors in a computer, cause the computerto perform operations necessary to execute elements involving thevarious aspects of the invention. Moreover, while the invention has beendescribed in the context of fully functioning computers and computersystems, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the variousembodiments of the invention are capable of being distributed as aprogram product in a variety of forms, and that the invention appliesequally regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices,floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, optical disks (e.g.,Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks,(DVDs), etc.), among others, and transmission type media such as digitaland analog communication links.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific exemplary embodiments, it will be evident that the variousmodification and changes can be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit of the invention as set forth in theclaims. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regardedin an illustrative sense rather than in a restrictive sense.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method, comprising: providing an advertisement toa mobile device via Short Message Service (SMS) or Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP), the advertisement to include a communication referenceto be used by the mobile device to communicate with an advertiser via anon-web based communication; and billing the advertiser for theadvertisement in response to an initiation of a communication betweenthe mobile device and the advertiser via the communication reference.22. The method of claim 21, wherein the initiation of the communicationis performed without a user of the mobile device manually inputting thecommunication reference.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein thecommunication reference includes a telephone number corresponding to theadvertiser.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the telephone number isan encoded telephone number corresponding to the advertiser.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the encoded telephone number identifies amedia channel used to provide the encoded telephone number.
 26. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the encoded telephone number identifies anoperator of a media channel used to provide the encoded telephonenumber.
 27. The method of claim 21, wherein the mobile device comprisesat least a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, or a computer.28. The method of claim 21, wherein the advertisement comprises at leasta conditional promotion or an electronic coupon.
 29. The method of claim21, wherein the advertisement is location-dependent.
 30. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the advertisement is dependent on a location of themobile device.
 31. The method of claim 21, wherein said providingcomprises providing the advertisement in response to the mobile deviceentering a wireless access zone.
 32. The method of claim 21, whereinsaid providing comprises providing the advertisements based on userpreferences.
 33. The method of claim 21, wherein the communicationbetween the mobile device and the advertiser comprises telephonic audiocommunication.
 34. A method, comprising: providing content informationin a visual format to a mobile device, the content information includinga communication reference to be used by the mobile device to communicatewith a third party via a non-web based communication; and billing thethird party for the providing of the content information in response toan initiation of a communication between the mobile device and the thirdparty via the communication reference.
 35. The method of claim 34,wherein said providing comprises a telephone directory providing theadvertisement.
 36. The method of claim 34, wherein the contentinformation comprises an advertisement; and the third party comprises anadvertiser of the advertisement.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein thecommunication between the mobile device and the advertiser is packetswitched, circuit switched, partially packet switched, or partiallycircuit switched.
 38. A method, comprising: providing an advertisementin a visual format via a wireless media, the advertisement including acommunication reference to be used by a receiving device to communicatewith an advertiser via a non-web based communication; and billing theadvertiser for the advertisement in response to an initiation of acommunication between the receiving device and the advertiser via thecommunication reference.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein thewireless media is via Short Message Service (SMS) or WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP).
 40. The method of claim 38, wherein thecommunication between the receiving device and the advertiser is atleast partially via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).